NL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: PADRES v BRAVES

October 10, 1998

Trevor Hoffman

TREVOR HOFFMAN: This is Brody.

TREVOR HOFFMAN: Well, it's just that. I think looking at it, it looks insurmountable, but it's like having Tony Gwynn 0-2, and you throw a pitch, and he gets a base hit off of you. There's a club that's capable of coming back on you; so we're not going to take anything for granted.

TREVOR HOFFMAN: It's part of the drama. It's part of building up the 9th inning, and getting the crowd excited and getting them into it. And I think it works. You saw it today, 65,000 people just screaming and yelling, and anticipating the end of the ballgame. On my end, it's a battle to try and stay focused and not get caught up in the emotion that's going through my body.

TREVOR HOFFMAN: No, I didn't. One of the music guys did. Good choice.

TREVOR HOFFMAN: It was definitely big. I faced Chipper Jones the other night in Atlanta, in sort of the same situation. And I was able to get him out. But relinguished the lead the next inning. Regardless of the outs you get, you have to stay focused and get each and every guy out until you get the last one. Magnitude-wise, yeah, it was huge. Anytime that the games you're playing have a game number next to it, they're going to be large. So you just try to get it done.

TREVOR HOFFMAN: I've been home watching them on TV getting big hits like that before, and he's capable of doing it. And we were fortunate to make pretty big hits on him and get out of that situation.

TREVOR HOFFMAN: Well, I think I've left the wind in our sails. I think it's been a situation where I've been given the baseball in situations to do the job, and I've been fortunate enough to be successful in those situations. I think in this role the momentum swings can be huge when you don't do your job. And I think that's the biggest key is to keep the team momentum going.

TREVOR HOFFMAN: I think he's going to be excited to be back starting the game. He gets nervous down there. His role is a bit undefined in the playoffs, being in the bullpen, but he's definitely a starter, and I think he's well prepared to do a great job for us tomorrow.

TREVOR HOFFMAN: My arm got really big. And the big thing that got lost in the whole thing -- not lost in it, but Kevin Brown did such a remarkable job, allowed the guys in the bullpen to get rest. And to have the travel day was another day. Things couldn't have worked out better for the pitching staff.

TREVOR HOFFMAN: We're not looking for redemption in that regard. Our guys in the clubhouse believe themselves, and we know we're up for the task. Again, you're going to have to be good ballclubs to get into situations, so we're just going to continue to believe in ourselves.

TREVOR HOFFMAN: No, not necessarily. I think we've been fortunate, those games have been played when we haven't been playing, so we've been fortunate to be able to watch them. The game is on TV in the clubhouse now, so I'm sure there are guys watching it.

End of FastScripts….